Blossum End rot again

[FILMNET]

I have Big Mama romas in the ground, ,4 in 5gal pots and 2 upside topsy Turvy,doing great. We had 2-3 inch of rain 2 days ago. Now Blossum End on the plants in the ground.I have been using Fish water for 2 weeks now, Can i use some Calcium pills in some water for these leaves and plants?
http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/s...ssomendrot.jpg

[spyfferoni]

I had bad luck with that variety (Big Mama) and also Viva Italia a few years ago. They just seem to be more susceptible to BER. I've switched varieties for my plum/paste types and have tried to water more consistently and evenly and haven't had any BER. I know there is a spray you can use, but I'm not sure how affective it is, there are different opinions on the matter. I think stress to the plants cause the majority of BER problems rather than a deficiency in the soil---at least where I live.

[Blueaussi]

I think the general opinion is that adding calcium or sprays isn't effective. It's a self correcting problem, and the best prevention is to try and grow varieties that aren't as susceptible.

[hasshoes]

Hey! Welcome to the forum!

I'm glad there's another Mass. person here that I can moan and complain with.

I just pulled off quite a few tomatoes yesterday that developed huge BER from our downpour.

Two years ago I had the same problem with a downpour and early tomatoes. . . however the plant grew out of it.

If excess water causes the BER there's really nothing you can do about it except wait it out (though I'm starting to worry because we might not have many days left!).

Next year I'm going to try plastic mulch to see if that helps.

Good luck!!

[FILMNET]

I bought a bag of yard/garden lime a 1/2 cup in a gal of h20 poured in the ground of all my plants, containers, Topsy turvy , and in the ground. Even got the leaves of the bad plants. Help!!!!!!!!
My supersweet 100 vf Hybrid has 20 tomatoes on this shot ???????? Nice

[Blueaussi]

Filmnet, are you asking for help, or exclaiming that the lime helped the tomatoes?

[FILMNET]

Lime was used on both plants. My big mama Roma's started showing blossom end rot 2 days ago.I have 8 plants of them,

[Blueaussi]

Ok, so there's plenty of calcium in the soil, are you in what has been the Northeastern Monsoon Belt this season?

[FILMNET]

yes, 7-9 inch's of rain in July, 4 days ago 2-3 inch's in 1 hrs very strong rain, and wind.I told all of the bad romo tomato's off. I hope everyday i see no more BER's

[Blueaussi]

Yeah, all that rain is the problem. If your weather turns a little nicer, so will the tomatoes.

[FILMNET]

WOW, Its been 3 days so far after I took off some BER Roma's, then 1/2 cup of lime in 1 gal of H2O in the ground for 8 plants. No BER Tomatoes now for 3 days,!!!!!!!!!!!

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by FILMNET

WOW, Its been 3 days so far after I took off some BER Roma's, then 1/2 cup of lime in 1 gal of H2O in the ground for 8 plants. No BER Tomatoes now for 3 days,!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but the lime had nothing to do with no BER .

As has been said above, Ca++ is NOT the primary reason why BER occurs. It's due to many environmental factors and the two most prevalent are growing in too rich soil and/or overfertilizing and uneven delivery of water.

With two exceptions, there is no lack of uptake of Ca++ from the soil, the problem is that under stresses that Ca++ is not distributed properly within the plant, thus BER fruits.

As the plants mature they can better handle the many stresses and BER usually goes away naturally.

The two exceptions I mentioned above are soils that have NO Ca++, which is very rare and soils that are very acidic when Ca++ is bound in the soil and that's also very rare.

So, addition of Ca++ to the planting hole or young plants or sprays such as Stop Rot are simply not effective and cannot prevent BER.

[Blueaussi]

The thing is, the blossom end rot would have probably cleared up without the lime. The uneven watering by the rain is most likely what caused the problem.